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Leaving a Magazine Loaded

cforandcforand Member Posts: 16 ✭✭
edited May 2002 in Ask the Experts
I have been talking with some of my buddies and we have been wondering is it good or bad to leave a clip loaded? I have a hi-point 9mm(be nice)pistol and I want to leave the clip loaded at all times. I keep it by my bed. Some have said that it would damage the clip over time and some have said that better to replace a $15.00 dollar clip than a life. So what do you guys think?



Edited by - cforand on 05/15/2002 09:27:47
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Comments

  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Theoretically leaving any clip loaded over time can damage the spring, or weaken it anyhow. I have never encountered this in practice. Leave it loaded, just leave it one or two rounds short of full.

    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
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  • niklasalniklasal Member Posts: 776 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I leave mine a couple rounds short also.

    I remember one person posted a reply using the spring as an analogy to car suspension springs... You don't need to replace them everyday, they won't wear out etc.

    But a few weeks ago I had a feed problem with a mag and the factory sent me a new spring and follower. I compared the new and the old, and there was about a 1.5 inch difference.

    My gun is prettier than yours, and it's a Glock!
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  • leeblackmanleeblackman Member Posts: 5,303 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    If its a factory magazine with a factory follower, I would leave it full, because it should have enough room for the compressed spring under the follower. Sometimes competition shooters use followers that are designed for maximum capacity, and don't leave very much room for the spring to compress, and they end up overcompressing.
    Also there is such a thing as cheap and good springs. I believe that Wolff is the company that makes replacement springs for some magazines that are pretty good. I've had a few cheapy mags that the springs didn't last very long in.

    Honesly, if you call or email the manufacturer, they really give the best advice on their guns for this sort of thing.

    I just wish I had a dollar for every gun I wanted, then I'd be a rich man.
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  • just-shootjust-shoot Member Posts: 233 ✭
    edited November -1
    I leave mine loaded only because I've read on this forum of many folks who have left them loaded for many years. There have even been those who have found grandfathers WWII pitols load and functioned fine 50 years later. If its a quality manufacture mag, I leave it loaded, my ak romainian cheap mags & generic mags stay unloaded. The day I need everything I got, if it aint loaded, its has good and a rock, my 2 cents.
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  • interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
    edited November -1
    Never call a "magazine" a "clip"
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  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    i rotate my mags every couple of months, after its rotated out i open it up and inspect have not had a problem yet.
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  • JudgeColtJudgeColt Member Posts: 1,790 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I used to worry about this topic as well. However, I have bought a number of old semi-automatic pistols over the years, and some have been loaded for 90 years. The magazines still work fine.

    I have an early (1971) Smith & Wesson M59 that has been loaded with 16 rounds in the magazine (yes, 16 - the early "non-A" magazines will hold 16 rounds) for about 30 years, and it still functions fine.

    I believe that most magazine springs are designed to have extra tension so that as some is lost over time, there is still enough power to make them function properly. I do not think there is much change after the initial loss.

    Clips (stripper clips?) on the other hand, are not under much tension as they hold the cartridges in their strip. Even an M1 Garand clip is not under much tension when loaded. Leave your clips loaded as long as you want. There is no issue there.
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  • azgunnut2@yahoo.comazgunnut2@yahoo.com Member Posts: 305 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    O.K. , yes I have had mags (old ones ) that were loaded forever , but
    why take a chance , on the job (as a cop) we always "rotate our mags
    on a regular (apx. once a month) basis , just because....and we do
    need to talk about the things you keep in your bed !!!!!!!!Good Luck...

    Join / Support the NRA
    Guns are my friends !!!
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  • gundummygundummy Member Posts: 254 ✭
    edited November -1
    I ROTATE MY MAGS ABOUT EVERY 3 MONTHS AND SHOOT OUT THE OLD STUFFS WHILE I AM AT IT. WHILE DOING THIS, I NOTICED THAT THE SPRINGS ON THE AFTERMARKET MAGS ARE THE ONES THAT GET WEAK. THE FACTORY ORIGINALS DON'T SEEM TO LOSE ANYTHING, AT LEAST AS MUCH AS I CAN TELL.
    BECAUSE OF THAT, I DON'T TRUST ANYTHING OTHER THAN FACTORY MAGS (OR MECGAR IN SOME OF THEM)FOR MY DEFENSE GUNS. I KEEP THE FACTORY MAGS LOADED TO CAPACITY. GD
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  • elmos608elmos608 Member Posts: 124 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Buy a nice .357 wheel-gun and you'll never have to worry about a weak magazine spring.
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  • leeblackmanleeblackman Member Posts: 5,303 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I bought an 8-shot S&W 627 Jerry Miculek because I used to worry about things like jams and such, then I got my first Glock and I've changed quite a bit.

    I just wish I had a dollar for every gun I wanted, then I'd be a rich man.
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  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I keep all my pistols fully loaded but rotate the magazines monthly.

    PC=BS
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  • bartobarto Member Posts: 4,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    isnt this kinda like putting your car up on blocks every time your not driving it?
    barto

    the hard stuff we do right away - the impossible takes a little longer
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